Duellorum: Scholars of Combat

Although the term 'martial arts' was once synonymous with Asian practices, it is now more commonly acknowledged that it can refer to any systematic combat practice,. In recent years specialists working on Historic European Martial Arts (HEMA) have formed a lively and popular research community, reconstructing these fascinating fighting styles. However, the source material is challenging and extremely fragmented, and their use in this manner requires a combination of linguistic skills, close textual analysis, and practical experimentation.

 
Shake It Up Festival. Shoreditch Town Hall (2019)

Shake It Up Festival. Shoreditch Town Hall (2019)

BTS Practicing Choreography, MOLA “Curtain Theatre” Event (2018)

Meet the team

Duellorum is a collaboration between fight choreographer Kiel O'Shea, and medieval martial arts historian Craig Hambling. Both are accredited BADC stage combat teachers and experienced historical interpreters, and these combined skill sets inform their work in live demonstrations, lectures and presentations on historic martial arts. From armour-clad knights to Georgian fencers, Duellorum can combine fabulous fights with fascinating facts to shed new light on the combatants of the past.

 

Previous collaborations with institutions or representatives thereof include:

  • Box Office Bears

  • Historic Royal Palaces (HRP)

  • English Heritage (EH)

  • Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA)

  • University of Roehampton

  • Shake It Up Festival

  • V&A

  • American Institutes of Foreign Study (AIFS)

Kiel O’Shea @ Tower of London

Craig Hamblyn @ Shake It Up Festival

Craig Hamblyn @ Shake It Up Festival